my travels in pixels

Monument Valley, UT It was a fair drive from the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley and the campground in the park was closed for an upgrade for the whole season, so we were forced to stay at the RV park. Definitely not value for money, it really affects how you view a place. $25 for a patch of dirt and sub standard rest rooms. It was really windy so we had to keep the doors closed or we would have had red sand over everything. Lindsay was tired, so we didn’t get down to the Monument for sunset and as it was six miles away, I couldn’t walk. We set the alarm to be there at 6:30 the next morning to get some sunrise pictures. There is a drive around the park to take you passed all the buttes which we did in record time as Lindsay didn’t take any notice of the 10 mph sign! Unfortunately the main picture that everyone recognizes as Monument Valley is best shot at sunset, not sunrise. Sunrise Due to the fact we hated our campground, neither of us wanted to stay another night. Th...

Back up to the Grand Canyon and the weather was a lot better. For some reason entrance was free which meant that the camping grounds were full. We decided to try our luck anyway and they found a site which had an ‘a’ and a ‘b’ section, which means that you basically share a site and it has two entrances. I will be asking for another site next time. Our neighbours were from Frankston, Melbourne and New Zealand! Two guys travelling for a few months in an old Volvo with suspect steering before they went to find jobs in Canada.What a great thing to do. Grand Canyon We hiked one and a half miles (3 return) of the Bright Angel trail. And of course as far as you go down, you have to come up – at 7,000 feet! It really tests your lungs. There are lots of switchbacks and we had to stop every second one to catch our breath.The boys from Frankston did the 6 mile return, but they were half our age! It was well worth it. There were lots of people coming up from the canyon floor who had been ra...

The next day we went into Sedona and it poured with rain as predicted. We just window shopped and did the coffee thing. Being a rainy day we decided to drive to a few other towns such as Cottonwood and Jerome. Lindsay had heard that there was a nice bread shop in Cottonwood, while trying to find it we went into a wine and chocolate shop. We had lots to talk about as Dana loves Australia and actually wants to emigrate there.We didn't get out of there for quite some time, tasting both chocolates and wines at 9:30 in the morning! The next thing we know we were invited to dinner the following night to meet some of Dana's friends and her husband. We had a terrific night, it's these sort of moments that make travelling so great. We had been speaking to a professional photographer at sunset the previous night who was taking a group to Page (Antelope Canyon) the next day and then onto Sedona the day after. I wondered why they were going to Sedona for photography. Now I know. Th...

We camped at Mather campground which is very nice and has big pine trees which gives it a forest feel. It wasn’t far to walk from our campsite to the entrance of the campground and there is a blue bus stop right outside which takes you to the visitor centre and links you up with the other two bus routes – the orange and red one. It would be chaos if everyone drove to all the lookouts. The first afternoon we decided to do the orange route. Lindsay hated to admit it, but he was impressed. We both were, it is truly amazing. I read that Hopi point was the most popular place for sunset and sunrise, they also suggested going somewhere else but we didn’t take any notice, so we decided to drive there. It’s a very confusing place to drive and we drove around in circles for a while before we worked out how to get to the orange route, only to find it is blocked off from cars. We had cooked our dinner in advance and thought we could eat it looking at the sunset over the canyon. Instead we had ...

Slab City is a community area out from the town of Niland. An alternative lifestyle, quirky and good for taking a photo, but please, would you really want to live there? Slab City We didn’t get to the mud pots as we couldn’t find them and didn’t try very hard as the person at the information centre said they weren’t working very much any more as the geothermal power station had reduced the pressure underground which in turn had stopped the pots from spurting everywhere. too salty for the trees to survive The wildlife refuge at the end of Sinclair road was closed probably due to the fact the wetlands had dried up, so therefore there was no birdlife. The road to the Colorado River isn’t that far the Mexican border and we ended up going through a border check but because we didn’t think we would be going over any borders we didn’t have our passports. Apart from being told we should carry them all the time, the guy didn’t seem too worried about us. Colorado River near Par...

The Salton Sea is an inland sea which has 25% more salt than the ocean. Flood waters from the Colorado River created it in 1905. The campground is right on the sea and there is a table and bench where you can have breakfast and watch the Pelicans come into land. It smells a little bit because the fish die as the water evaporates and the water becomes more salty. The temperature has risen to 40C. This campground is closing in June due to lack of funds and the fact that the sea is dying, they have re-routed the water elsewhere...no surprise then why the sea is dying. Pelicans flying over the Salton Sea

Not a park to go to in summer Death Valley had not had any rain in six months, until we got there. We must be the rain gods. It rained all day and all night. We camped at the Sunset campground as the Furnace Creek campground was closed due to renovations. It was too windy and miserable to cook, so we went across to the Furnace Creek Inn and had a drink and pizza. I decided to try a death valley sunset drink which was sickly sweet. The next day was overcast and Lindsay wanted a lay day, so we just moved campgrounds to Stovepipe Wells. We walked into the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes and then had a shower at the motel, for $4 you can have a shower in the pool area. The water was hot and strong which was a welcome relief since our last one. We set up camp at Stovepipe Wells and just vegged out for the rest of the day. The camping ground is just like Sunset camping ground, not very pleasant, just like a big car park. We met some new friends and all had drinks together and then continue...

This is a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) site. The visitor centre has a large shop and the help desk is very helpful. He suggested that we stop off at Calico I & Calico II, then at Sandstone Quarry take the Calico Tanks walk which was a medium grade walk over a lot of rocks and there were a few places that you had to scramble on your hands (4 km) – we could see Las Vegas in the distance at the end. The campground is a kilometre away from the park and it’s very basic, very open and when we were there, very windy. Not a nice place to be during the day – wind or no wind. The road to see the sights is a one way loop, so you can't change your mind and go back to a trail you may have missed. Lots of red rocks $7 park pass per day, $15 camping per night

Valley of Fire is a State Park of Nevada, so it doesn’t come under the America the Beautiful Pass we bought.  The camping grounds are fantastic with flushing loos and hot showers. There is an RV section where they pay double the normal fee but they get power and water connected as well as a concrete pad with lots of room around them. Their amenity block is very spacious but with only one shower which takes quarters.The tiny cubicles in our camp area are free. Each camp spot has it’s own shelter, table and benches as well as a tap. Little birds and squirrels dart in and about the bushes. It's April but this is a low desert, so it's quite hot already. what you see as you drive towards the park There are a number of sights to see and we went up to the White Domes on an early before breakfast drive and saw a herd of Big Horn Sheep which is the State’s animal. Lindsay thought the Arches campground was more protected and if you got a site to the right hand side of the campgro...

It was hard for us to work out where to stay in Las Vegas as we hadn’t been there before. If you stay along the strip you will be amongst everything, so we decided that is where we wanted to be. We booked a mystery hotel and ended up at the Tropicana which is right at the end of the strip. We found walking along the strip was hot during the day but cooler and more colourful at night. We saw many attractions along the way: including the fountain show outside Bellagio and the Pirate show outside Treasure Island. The Volcano outside Caesars Palace wasn’t going when we went past and we decided we wanted to see the pirates instead. Water show outside Bellagio great entertainment from the pirates We walked back to our hotel which is at the far end of the strip which took an hour to get to as the crowds were in slow mode. Before buying tickets for shows, check what is available at the Tix4Tonight booths, there are lots of them around. They are cheaper and they will give you ...

We decided to wet our camping feet with a park close to where we were staying in case we forgot something. Joshua Tree NP is a pretty park. Lots of rocks for rock climbers and Joshua Trees which aren’t really trees, they are a type of Yucca. It is a high and low altitude desert, high in the north, low in the south. Which means it is colder in the high area. It was warm the day we entered the park, so we thought we would be okay in the high area. Mmmm. By mid afternoon on the second day a cold wind built up. It turned a really pleasant camping experience into a freezing one. Even though we were invited to share a fire with our neighbours in the next campsite, it was too cold to sit by it. That night it got down to 0C and the water in our kettle froze. I couldn’t find my gloves anywhere even though I thought I had packed them. You can’t book any campsites, so it’s the luck of the draw. We arrived late in the day and a sign on the visitors centre said the park was full. So we skippe...